i think smith made a bad move. he would've been ahead of jones in the rotation, and see some minutes at sf or c. with the clippers he's behind a superstar pf, and pierce will play some pf in small ball lineups. his minutes here would def be in the mid 20s, probably a little less than last season cuz of the injuries.
I'm pretty sure Josh would've still been here if the Rockets assured him he'd be ahead of TJ in the rotation. It doesn't sound like they were willing to do that.
Smith will be the Clips first big off the bench. Here he would've likely been the second big off the bench with DMo healthy.
Smith is crazy if he thinks his role in LA gives him a better chance at a final big pay day next summer than what his role here would have been. That said, I'm actually relieved to see him go. I thought he was an excellent pick up last season at that price due to all the injuries but I can't see this dude being a 20 mpg player on a Championship team that isn't coached by Greg Popovich or that doesn't have Lebron on it. He is just too inconsistent and we already have quite a few players with that problem.
Turnovers are a legit complaint. Still, I have to think that if the Rockets had a second playmaker, Smith would not be needed to do as much and turnovers wouldn't be as big of a problem. On offense, Smith and Jones played the same position but had pretty different roles. No surprise Jones wouldn't have turnovers if he's never trying to create anything. Shouldn't the turnovers and early shots fall on coaching somewhat too? All we heard all year was that Smith loved it b/c the coaching staff let him play his game. Well, if turnovers and early shots were such a big problem why the f didn't the coaches say something about it? Make layups? What are you talking about? Smith shot 67% from 0-3 last year with the Rockets and is always high 60's and early 70's. That's pretty strong. Jones is slightly better, but it's pretty marginal IMO.
I think this might be because you're a smart fan. None of these guys are 40 minute playoff guys. None seem to be available through trade, so keeping is our best option. Trashing seems counter productive unless you're a GM trying to negotiate a better price. I will always think of Hayes as a center. I have a hard time thinking he wouldn't get any burn. This has got to be a contract thing with him not signing. It sounds like they've offered a coaching position. Smith was a minutes thing. I can't think of a reason to believe we've wronged anyone. If we did, I'm sure we will make it right before the season is over.
Again, like we've been saying too, are we really keeping Jones all year now? One more - Jones really sucks at defense!!!!!!!!!
I has nothing to do with whether the contract was guaranteed. The problem isn't what the contract was. It's why they rescinded what was agreed on.
I agree to a certain extent. But three guys with three different sets of skills is not as good as one guy who has all the skills. On the positive side, you can throw different looks at the opponent. On the negative side, you always have some kind of glaring deficiency no matter which guy you play. I do hope that at least one of DMo and Jones can improve on their weaknesses.
Calling Josh an idiot is underestimating Chris Paul putting all his talents together on the court. I think this board is underestimating LAC. Make no mistake, we don't want Josh Smith on the Clippers with Chris Paul. ppl seem to be whitewashing this from only what it meant for us, and not factoring in what it means for LAC.
Totally agree. Clippers only weak link last year was their backup big, specifically their third big. Big Baby and Spencer were 2 of the worst 3rd bigs in the league. Just terrible. Smoove is their distinctive 3rd big and he's going to be great in that role. Clippers are going to be very difficult to beat next season.
I think Doc will quickly realize that at this point of his career Truth can only bring value as a stretch 4, meaning less minutes for Josh. Then there is the usage issue. With D-Mo injured, Josh was called upon to create and had freedom; he relaxed, nobody would yell at him for a turnover or missed 3pt shot, the Rockets needed offense from someone other than Harden. Look at the Clippers now. They have two of the best offensive players n the League in CP3 and Blake. It is true they were overused last year, so the thinking might have been, there is an opportunity here. hardly. Look at who they brought. 1. A Hall of Famer who has been the Man for more than a decade, won a championship. 2. Lance Stevenson, who I am sure, sincerely thinks is Micheal Jordan 3. Jamaal Crawford is still Jamaal Crawford. 4. Austin Rivers who also, I am sure, sincerely thinks is Micheal Jordan. And then you have the DJ saga that was all about DJ thinking he's being underused, not wanting to be a garbage/roll man only, to be featured. So they promised that to him. But the problem is the ball is still just one. And Josh walks into this now, and you think the whole team will be OK if he launches a 3 with 21 sec on the clock? Or tries some of the Josh Smith stuff? How do you think "stink eye" CP3 would look all this? Bad decision by Josh...
Jones shot a lot more at the rim which is why his TS% is much by higher. Smiths athleticism is declining. He used to be above 70% at the rim as well but it's on a downtrend
I don't think Montrezl is willing to sign for the rookie minimum which means the Rockets will have to use part of the remaining MLE to sign him. The Rockets just don't have the room left under the apron to sign Chuck and then use the remaining MLE to sign Montrezl. Josh is a different story to me. I don't think the Rockets were willing to commit anything to Josh other than a roster spot. The Rockets have a fairly crowded front court with DMo, Jones and now Montrezl all trying to get minutes at the 4 spot. I don't think DM or McHale were willing to guarantee Smith would fit with that group. Would he be the 1st big off of the bench or would the Rockets give the minutes to TJ and DMo? LAC basically guaranteed Smith to be the 1st big off of the bench by not bringing back Big Baby. Either way he is playing on a 1 year contract with his eyes set on something bigger next summer. Smith's best asset IMO is his play-making skills and LAL likes to let their offense run through the PF at times. As far as Blake playing 40 minutes a game in the play-offs; does anyone really think LAL wants him doing that anymore than the Rockets want James playing 40 minutes in the play-offs? The Clippers wan't Josh to remove some of that burden so the starters are fresh in the 4th quarter and not exhausted like they were during the last play-offs.
the problem with josh is he doesn't really defer, smith wioth chris paul will probably lead to less possessions for chris paul, cp3 also isn't much of a wide open 3 point shot generator, he likes to hold the ball, control the pace, and find holes moreso inside the arc, which will lead to smith taking shots he shouldn't be taking, everything else.
There is no use for him on this team. Our PF spot is what I would actually consider our rotation spot We have Ty/Bev/harden/Ariza/brewer/Dwight that all have roles for either playmaking, scoring, 3pt shots, and elite defense I think our PF spot is more for the dirty work(rebounding, put backs) even though Dmo has that footwork. We don't need smiths second highest usage rate and turnovers at the 4. When considering small ball I see Ariza at the 4 With Ty/harden/Howard a lot of defenses are going to be pull out and drawn to them 3. We need a PF or can just get lobs and rebounds. LMA would have been I bad fit compared to Ty imo
What exactly that Morey had rescinded? Look, if you do not have the facts, then please stop using the conspiracy theories and play the victim card for Hayes here. Morey offered a partially guaranteed contract to Hayes, and a partially guaranteed contract basically means it will be partially guaranteed only. Other than that, if you believe a GM will have some under the table agreements for a partially guaranteed contract for a end of the bench, min salary guy? That will be just silly.
This. Rockets couldn't/wouldn't give him a "defined role". Not a money issue. Daryl on Josh: We did want Josh back. He's a good player & person. He had to analyze the situation, not only this season but going forward. He felt signing LA was best for him not only this year but felt LA was setting him up better for the future. Hayes, they reneged on their [verbal] agreement.
Let's not overlook the possibility that Josh is just not a very smart man and he simply made a bad decision, for reasons only he comprehends.
